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The mind’s eye still might want to see otherwise, but reality paints a different picture. So there, flashing intermittently on the AmericanAirlines Arena media mesh high above Biscayne Boulevard is a picture familiar but decidedly different. |
Championship trophies. Dwyane Wade. Chris Bosh ...
And Udonis Haslem.
There is no pretense of a Big Three, but there clearly is a subtext of loyalty. The imagery has changed, but not the image that has been in place at 601 Biscayne for more than a decade.
Udonis Haslem is alongside for the fight, whether it is continually with Wade, going into a fifth year alongside Bosh, or fleetingly with LeBron James.
“Ever since I’ve been here,” Bosh said after Monday’s practice, “they’ve always deemed him the heart and soul, the backbone, many different names. But him being a Miami guy, just his story of how he’s made it through what he’s made it through, not being drafted, and just showing the perseverance of getting to the league off of one shot, it’s spectacular.
“And he’s been here for all three championships, him and Dwyane, so I feel it’s only right that they get first dibs on the posters.”
No, Haslem, 34, does not set up in nearly the same context as Bosh and Wade this season. Whether he will reemerge as a rotation player remains to be seen during this month of training camp and then beyond.
But appreciative? He arrived that way as an undrafted rookie in 2003 and remains so heading into his 12th season.
“I haven’t seen,” Haslem said of the Wade-Bosh-trophies poster that also is among those featured on the “wallpaper” page of the Heat website. “I’m thankful for it. It’s been a lot of hard work put in here. It is what it is. I keep working and keep getting blessed.”
The cycle for Haslem in recent years has been to rotate through a series of roles, from starting power forward to backup centre, from regular rotation player to infrequently utilised reserve.
Now, with James departing during free agency for a return to the Cleveland Cavaliers, there again has to be an organisational assessment, with Haslem signing back for two seasons in the offseason at a team-friendly rate that also allowed for the signings of Luol Deng, Josh McRoberts and Danny Granger, players who all could challenge for playing time.
“This team is different, so I’m open to seeing how different it can be,” coach Erik Spoelstra said between Monday’s two-a-day camp sessions. “There’s some things that we want to remain the same, the staples of how we defend, and offensively trying to be efficient playing together, attacking. But we’ll do it in a different way and we’ll just have to see how guys fit into their roles with this team.”
That, too, is part of the delicate balance, Haslem’s leadership is unquestioned, but his skill set not always a match when Spoelstra wants everyone to be “live” on offence, for all five Heat players to be viewed by opposing defences as a scoring threat.
“Everybody has the ultimate respect for U.D., and who he’s been as a player,” Spoelstra said, “but, most specifically, as a Miami Heat player, and to provide all that leadership within his role, whatever that role is. And we’ll see how the season unfolds.”
As always, Haslem is preparing for it all, as an undersized centre, which was his playoff role against Roy Hibbert, but also as a perimeter threat, again working on a 3-point stroke that has proven consistent during practice but absent during games.
“I’ve been talking to C.B,” Haslem said of his 3-point drill work, which Monday had him as one of the final players off the floor. “It’s amazing to me how he always ends up on that 3-point line. He’s supposed to be playing centre. I’m trying to figure it out. It’s not that I don’t want to; it’s just I’ve got to figure how to sneak out there.”
And, of course, sneak back into the rotation, which wasn’t always the easiest task with James, and his power-forward build, available the past four seasons.
“I kind of approach every season with an open mind,” he said. “I really never know what my role’s going to be, what my job is going to be.”
But in at least one respect, he is front and centre, again a face of the franchise.
“He’s one of the most mentally tough guys I’ve ever been around,” Bosh said. “His professionalism doesn’t allow him to have any lapses.”
That could wind up playing in Haslem’s favour. “I don’t think we’re as talented as years past,” Bosh said, “and we’re going to have to make up for that with toughness.”
